British former politician shunned by father because of religion

by Xanthippe 8 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Xanthippe

  I was reading in the Guardian yesterday about Edwina Currie, former British MP and Junior Health Minister in the eighties.

  When she married out of the orthodox Jewish faith her father refused to speak to her again (even though he was an atheist and used to go round to a friend's house for bacon butties).

  Her mother kept in touch and loved her grandchildren but her father would drive her mum to visit but stay in the car.

  Just reminded me that I am not the only one to suffer from shunning due to relisgious differences. It goes on in many religions.
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  supernerdboy

  WTF. Why? That is crazy.
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  wha happened?

  yea unfortunately. 'dubs do not have a monopoly on crazy
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  lisaBObeesa

  Yes, hasidic jews also shun the way JWs do.

  I remember reading the book "The Chosen" as a teen...It was about a friendship between a hasidic jewish kid and a more mainstream jewish kid. THat's when I realized JWs are not alone...that there are others in wierd controlling groups that are stuck in or face shunning...

  Super strict fundamentalist groups are the shunners, and many faiths have these little super strict fundamentalist groups... little 'cults' within the larger faith.
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  Finkelstein

  When particular beliefs/faith break apart families, no one really wins .

  Scientology, Mormonism and others religions also have a structured shunning policy in place.

  Religious leaders want to protect the power and control over people, at all cost and by any means.

  Men know that power and control can easy fade away if you don't put in place policies to protect what they have acquired .
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  jookbeard

  The Curries have never been Hasidic Jews
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  steve2

  Yes, the act of shunning children who marry out of the "family's" religious tradition is far stronger and more widespread than we Westerners might think. JWs are certainly not alone.

  My immediate neighbour is a Sikh Indian from Malaysia who imigrated to New Zealand with her English husband over 20 years ago. Her family of origin in Malaysia condemned her for daring to even date a non-Sikh Indian and her mother beat her black and blue then forced her out of the house onto the street. The fact that she was dating an Englishman was an added insult. She cannot ever visit her parents who were advised by their local temple elders to shun her and not even lay eyes on her. She counts herself lucky that at least Sikhs in Malaysia are not known for killing daughters who marry non-Sikhs as they are in parts of India! Yes, killing - and when it happens in India, the local community covers it over and the guilty family members are seldom prosecuted. I hear that, given the corruption of the Police in parts of India, accurate statistics on family-honor killings are impossible to find.

  When I shared with her my disfellowshipping experience, she sighed and said she sympathized but "wished" her parents had at least been able to say goodbye to her. They refused all communication - including letters. And even if she left her husband, because she has violated her family's religious beliefs, they still would not accept her back. Now that's treating someone like she's actually dead. As she said to me, at least you could conceivably return to your religion, repent and be accepted again.
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  lisaBObeesa

  The Curries have never been Hasidic Jews

  I wasn't trying to say they were. The topic just made me think of the book I read. sorry for the miscommunication!
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  Cold Steel

  Scientology, Mormonism and others religions also have a structured shunning policy in place. Religious leaders want to protect the power and control over people, at all cost and by any means.

  That's a pretty cynical view of relgion, and I can tell you for a fact that Mormonism has no "structured shunning policy" established. In fact, LDS church leaders actively discourage shunning because it's more likely to drive offenders away, and the idea is to bring them back. I can't speak for Scientology, but I don't know many Christian religions that practice formal shunning. Some families may decide to shun offenders on their own volition, but I know of no Christian faith that actively encourages it...except the Jehovah's Witnesses and perhaps some Pentacostal or evangelical fringe groups like the Westboro wackos.

  In some cases, the Orthodox churches practice shunning, but again it's mostly family oriented. A local priest of a Greek Orthodox church shunned his son when he married a black woman. It wasn't because she wasn't Orthodox because she offered to join. I don't even think it was entirely her skin color. I think it was more because of the drastic cultural difference. I used to like Greek women a lot, but they were only interested in Greek men for the most part. (And Greek men liked marrying blonde gals with blue eyes, but that's another story.) Anyway, the priest's parishioners brought the priest eggs to show their support and to solace him. But they didn't shun the priest's son or his wife; however, the priest and his wife and family did. I think the priest and his family were just used to Greeks and Greek-Americans. They liked Greek food and Greek music, and they loved speaking Greek. A black family, on the other hand, might serve glazed ham, mashed potatoes, deviled eggs, green beans, ice tea for the main course and pie or cake for dessert. While that may be my type of food, many Greeks would prefer eating poison! (And I'm sure the black family would rather eat poison than Greek food.)

  Shunning is a natural human reaction, but only cults that are into control actively encourage it because it's an effective vindictive tool and discourages dissension.